I decided to do a holiday update. I realize Christmas is past but it is still the holiday season, so I humbly give you this holiday offering. As always, read, review,and enjoy!

The Janus Campaign

A Time For All Seasons

Camp Augustus

Tiberius El Kalgi noticed as the camp began to take on a slightly more festive decor, particularly the trees brought in and adorned with lights and other ornamentation. He voiced his curiosity to the Lady Lucilla as he helped her with preparations for the coming Saturnalia celebration.

"I didn't think that the people here celebrated the Old Gods?" Tiberius remarked.

Lucilla laughed with humor. "I don't think they do. But then neither do many of us," she replied. "No, it's a celebration called Christmas," Lucilla smiled. She paused as she considered best how to explain. "Next year the timing won't be so close to our Saturnalia but they have a lot in common, or so I've read and been told." She considered. "You've noticed that they use a version of the Old Reform Calendar?"

Tiberius nodded. "Yes, three hundred and sixty-five days in twelve months. And they use the seven day week, not the eight-day week we use."

"That's correct, my lord," Lucilla nodded. "Whereas our calendar is of three hundred and eighty-eight days with twelve equal months of four eight-day weeks and the seasons each marked by the intercalendaral days of Autumnal and Vernal Equinox and Winter and Summer Solstice," she explained. "That they use the old calendar is further proof, if any is needed that this world is not a new world but it is the world of human origins." Not that Lucilla or her mother required any further evidence. The Japanese Language might seem as alien as Elven but the fact that recognizable forms of both the High and common tongues existed here was well beyond any coincidence. The joke that they had traveled to invade a world which had once given breath to their ancestors.

"In this case, the two calendars simply happen to fall conveniently close to having the same Winter Solstice," Lucilla noted.

"So this 'Christmas' is a celebration of the solstice?"

"Not entirely. You see, here, the temples of the Old Gods fell out of favor, just as with our people. But not because of the Twelve. Here, a religion called Christianity took hold in the Empire of the Old Lore. It isn't the only religion in this world but it is in one form or other, one of the most important ones. Christmas is a celebration of the birth of the Son of their God. I don't claim to understand it but the point to remember is that the date of this birth was agreed upon as being on December 25, to coincide with Saturnalia, which was still a popular festival. Clever to offer a token to those who didn't follow the new religion by 'borrowing' everyone's favorite holiday. Just like our people, people just can't say 'no' to a good excuse for a party!" Lucilla grinned. While Saturnalia was considered a relic of the Old Gods, the Gods of Falmart had left the cherished celebration intact, under 'new management' as it were.

"And even if their beliefs aren't the same as ours," Lucilla noted. "Peace and goodwill to all are things worth celebrating in any culture."

Tiberius nodded in agreement. Then he noticed a certain gleam in the Lady's eye.

"Now, my lord! As those of us here at Camp Augustus will be celebrating both Saturnalia and Christmas, I need your help with hanging the mistletoe!"

City of Italica

Aenaire sat contentedly as she finished the stitching on the new shirt that she was going to give her son in the morning. While thankful for the clothes that Taylor and Itami's people had provided them with, there was something to be said for preserving at least some pieces of their Elven heritage. And besides, it was identical to the shirt she was making for Taylor. William, her mind corrected. It was still true that her son was all she needed but for the first time in decades, Aenaire wanted. She wanted to share her life with another again. What her mind had justified out of convenience, her heart now truly desired. And if their time together might be measured by the brief span of a human lifetime, then she still wanted it so. And she now hoped her son would know a kind and good father, even if only for a few decades.

Cautiously, she had sounded out Aurelia on this. The Warrior Bunny laughed. "I know the Lady Octavia has certain plans and hopes for My Lord. That said, I think she would approve that the strength of the People and the spirit of the Lady Panache be united with the serenity of one such as yourself. As we have noted, My Lord is much in need of being looked after."

With that assurance, Aenaire watched fondly as William sat telling another tale to Galador. Her son had listened with rapt interest to tales about the Vulcans, who were like Elves but lived far away among the stars, and their kin, the Romulans, who like the Dark Elves had chosen a different path from their brethren, and to tales of the great Elven warrior Legolas and his human brother who fought together to defeat great evil in the lands of Middle-Earth and the wise queen Galadriel at whose description her son giggled and caused Aenaire to blush. And now her son listened eagerly as another story began.

"Now listen closely, this is a tale of an elf who lives on Earth to this very day and this is his special night!"

"Special night?"Galador asked.

"Ah yes! They call him by many names but in this story, he is known as Saint Nicholas. As it was said that he was the jolliest soul in the world, he was entrusted with a special mission to help spread joy to children throughout the world. Now… Most of the time, he works in secret, helping those he can and gathering magical energy which he uses on his big night where he travels all over the world, giving gifts to good children and releasing all the magic of generosity and kindness he has gathered throughout the year so it can warm the hearts of men and encourage them to hold and spread that same magic themselves," Taylor told him.

"Now, this story is almost two hundred years old. So your mom was hardly much older than you when it was written."

Galador nodded, listening attentively.

"Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse…"

House Vallis (The City of Avaricum, along the Appia Way)

Sulla Du Vallis was having one of those days again, he thought as he poured himself another cup of wine. He should try to be festive. It was the season of Saturnalia and someone had delivered ten casks of ale to his house. By now, his men were all either passed out from drinking or nowhere to be found.

He wasn't quite sure how it had come to this. When the current war started, he had a contract to supply provisions to the army. He also had his hand in slaves, mostly laborers but with a new campaign looming, Sulla sensed an opportunity to break into a higher class market. He had sold off most of his current stock of slaves at below market value to have gold in hand. When the army began sending slaves back from the new conquests, they would pass through Avaricum before reaching the markets in Sadera and that meant he would have a chance at first pick. Being the first able to supply such rare commodities would finally give Sulla his opportunity at becoming a high-end merchant. He figured it would be simple to turn a hefty profit. So as 5th Legion marched through with the first taken slaves, Sulla paid for twenty: Ten men and ten women. This had turned out to be a huge mistake. Instead of an economic boom, the private market had collapsed overnight as he had learned through his connections that the expedition had turned into a complete disaster! Not only would a new stream of slaves not be entering the market but the expected mass of soldiers returning home with pockets full of gold had been decimated instead. The Empire's appetite for luxury goods had not been completely quelled but it had been greatly diminished. What the Empire needed now, he was told, were strong laborers.

To that, the men were soon requisitioned by the Empire. Sulla was paid a fair if disappointing sum for them as their physical development was considered unimpressive. This left ten barbarian women who spoke in a strange tongue and for which he had no buyer and no connections to help him find one. They quickly became a massive headache. Learning that several of them spoke High Tongue should have been a blessing but instead it only helped them communicate with the other slaves. It was a miserable trap. He did not know how to break them as he wished because they were too valuable as potential assets and he could not damage them lest they become unappealing to prospective buyers. Had he the experience of an actual high-end dealer, he would have learned techniques to punish them without leaving observable marks but he was used to field slaves and using more direct methods when one of them got out of line. But they were the only stock he had and he could not risk accidentally killing one of them even if it might cow the others. Further, whereas he was having to constantly keep an eye on his own employees, when they were sober, he thought, his slaves had begun bonding and while he knew he might have a slave killed if they dared to strike him the looks a couple of the others gave when he raised a hand at any of them scared him as they seemed to sense his failings in handling such valuable and temperamental merchandise. He was well aware that these two could kill him and even if it cost their lives it would not make him less dead. So for now, he could only hope that the Empire's fortunes would reverse themselves into a climate where their value as luxury goods would be attained. So he fed them and clothed them and he needed to drink more. At least he had no wife complaining about the state of his business.

It was at this time during the last day of Saturnalia, that a heavy knock sounded on Sulla's door. Seeing most of his associates were already passed out from drink and the rest, doing gods only knew what, Sulla pushed himself up from the table and answered the door.

"Better not be some drunken fool!" He muttered as he stalked to the door. "I've enough of them that work for me." He opened the door to find two quite well-dressed individuals, one man and one woman, both about eighteen years or so. The young man spoke first.

"Good evening. We are looking for a Sulla Du Vallis? We understand he deals in certain goods of which we have need."

Sulla nodded. "Yes! That would be me! Please come in, lord…?"

"I am Flavius Co Cacola. This is my sister Dyet. We understand you deal in slaves?"

"Yes! The market has been a bit soft lately but I do have some."

"Excellent! House Cacola has need of many workers. More than a few of our tenant farmers signed up for the recent… campaign…" Flavius said the last word as if it had a sour taste. "I think you can see where our problem lay. Few have returned and with no one to work the fields…"

"Ah… yes, my lord. Unfortunately, all my male slaves were requisitioned by order of the Senate."

Dyet smiled predatorily. "A woman can work a field as well as a man. The important thing is that the work gets done. I would like to inspect what you have. If the quality is satisfactory, we will offer a fair price. Brother? While I inspect these slaves, why don't you and Master Vallis start discussing the details? Unless they're all worthless, we'll need a wagon and provisions for the journey."

"Certainly sister," Flavius agreed. Sulla shook his head.

"My lady, I can't advise you to go into the slave quarters unescorted. I'm afraid some of them are a bit… high spirited and unfortunately as you can see around you, my 'help' is useless."

"Fortunately," Dyet said, pulling out a long dagger. "We don't need them pretty and if one of them thinks to touch a daughter of a noble line, they'll regret it," she growled. "Now, where are these 'high-spirited' girls? I need to see if they're worth our time and money."

Sulla frowned. "I have no use for damaged slaves, my lady."

"Yes, yes," Dyet dismissed. "You'll be compensated, you have my word. Now, show me."

Vallis inwardly flinched. "Right this way." He gestured and opened a locked door, revealing a room some twenty by twenty-five feet, containing seventeen slaves. Twelve were humans, one Warrior Bunny, two catgirls, an avian and a Draconian.

"These might do, brother. I'll examine them. You handle the details," Dyet announced.

"Certainly, sister." Flavius replied and guided Sulla back to the table."Master Vallis? A drink if you would? My father considers it bad form to do business with a man you would not drink with."

Sulla nodded, although still concerned that the stupid girls might yet ruin this deal, it seemed the gods had granted him favor this Saturnalia.

As the girls looked at her with a mix of surprise and fear, Dyet smiled and put a finger to her lips. "Nihongo ga hanashimasu ka?" She had been told it meant 'Do you speak Japanese', and at this, nine of the human girls eyes went wide and several of them also pointed to a tenth, a blonde girl of fair complexion and started to explain something in rapid-fire Japanese that Dyet assumed meant that she was also one of those taken in Ginza.

"Do any of you speak English?" She then asked. Six of the nine nodded as did the tenth girl. Dyet smiled. "Tell your friends to play along if you want to leave here." She then spoke similarly to the others in Popularii. After a few minutes, she called out to her brother. "I'm done here. These will do for a start."

"Good! I think we can reach an equitable bargain." Over the next two hours, details were discussed and drinks were had… at least by a now happy and somewhat hazy Sulla. Flavius and his sister politely appearing to drink but both of them needing to avoid the ill effects of drunkenness and neither of them caring for the poor quality of Sulla's wine.

Finally, with the contracts signed and Sulla on the verge of passing out, Dyet ushered the girls into a wagon.

As Sulla watched the wagon get underway, he contemplated the gold now in his pockets and his intoxicated employees. Perhaps it was time for a change of scenery?

"Not a bad day's work!" Flavius commented a few minutes later as they headed east. They needed to reach Mursa before turning south to follow along the coast of the Blue Sea before reaching their destination.

"Not at all, brother. Her Highness will be pleased with our start but you worried me there for a bit," she admitted.

"I worried you?" Flavius asked. "I was sure you were going to start a riot!"

"I had everything under control. I was more worried that you were going to low-ball us out of a deal!"

"We already had to pay for ten casks of ale."

"True, hopefully, that sort won't ever learn to question free ale on Saturnalia," Dyet replied as she rode alongside the wagon which Flavius now drove, his own horse trailing.

In the back of the wagon, the girls discussed their sudden change in fortunes. Dyet informed them that they would have to travel south along the Blue Sea where they would all be taken care of at a private estate until Dyet and her brother were able to track down as many more of the Ginza captives as possible without risking anyone realizing that someone was searching for those individuals in particular.

One of the girls frowned as she tried to recall the date. Somehow it seemed important. Had she known, it was now 1:07 AM on the morning of December 25th, Tokyo time.

And they had just been given a Christmas miracle.

Watching from the distance, an old shepherd looked up to the heavens and smiled.

To be continued...

A/N: Yes, Flavius and Dyet Co Cacola. And yes, it IS pronounced as you think. (With thanks to taalismn)